Tamil actor Srinivasan arrested in Rs 5 crore loan fraud case

Tamil actor S. Srinivasan, popularly known as “Powerstar” in the cinema industry, has been arrested by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Delhi Police in connection with a Rs 5-crore loan fraud case. The police apprehended the 64-year-old on July 27 in Chennai’s Vanagaram.

The actor had been evading trial for years and was declared a ‘proclaimed offender’ twice—once in 2016, and later in 2018. "The accused had been absconding for several years and was finally apprehended on July 27 from Vanagaram in Chennai. He has been remanded to judicial custody," Deputy Commissioner of Police (EOW) Ravi Kumar said in a statement.

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The case dates back to 2010 when Blue Coast Infrastructure Development Ltd, a private firm based in Delhi, was allegedly cheated by a group of individuals, including Henry Lalremsanga, Deepak Banga, Anil Varshney, and Ramanuja Muvvala. “These people claimed to be expert consultants capable of securing high-value funding for hotel and corporate infrastructure projects," said the DCP. They introduced the complainant to Srinivasan, who introduced himself as the proprietor of Baba Trading Company, and agreed to entertain a loan of Rs 1,000 crores.  

To initiate the deal, the complainant paid Rs 5 crore to Srinivasan, ostensibly to purchase adhesive stamps, a standard fee for such transactions. However, the loan never materialised, and the post-dated cheque of Rs 5 crore was bounced due to insufficient funds. On investigation, the police found that Srinivasan had transferred Rs 5 crore to his company’s account and later moved it to accounts controlled by Srinivasan and his wife.

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Of the lump sum, the actor withdrew Rs 50 lakh and transferred the rest, Rs 4.5 crore, to a joint account. During initial investigations, Srinivasan failed to provide any evidence of the purchase of adhesive stamps. "He was first arrested during the course of investigation but later released on interim bail in 2013 after assuring the court that he would repay Rs 10 crore in 15 days. However, he only deposited Rs 3.5 lakh and went underground," said the officer.

 

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